A relationship between hypertension, obesity and left ventricular structure in Yangpyung County, Korea.

Abstract

The relationship between hypertension, obesity and the structure of left ventricle in a rural area, Korea

Background: Left ventricular hypertrophy(LVH) is an important prognostic marker for cardiovascular events. Age, hypertension and obesity is well known factors for LVH. This study is to evaluate the relationship of visceral obesity and the left ventricular mass examined by echocardiography for an community based cardiovascular disease cohort. Methods: For 540 out of 632 subjects participated in health survey in YangPyeong county in Korea, echocardiographic LV mass and the presence of diastolic dysfunction were measured. To differentiate the effect of visceral obesity, obesity related parameters of body mass index(BMI) and waist circumference(WC) adjusted for each other were used. Results: Mean age was 59.4 ± 12.3 and proportion of female was 321(59.4%). LVMI is increasing with age in female. Relative wall thickness(RWT) is increased with age in both gender. By simple comparison by ANOVA, SBP, BMI and WC was higher in higher LVMI, RWT group. In male participants, SBP, LVMI was increased in abnormal relaxation. LVMI according to BMI showed trend in non hypertensives of both sex, PWT in female non hypertensives. By multiple logistic analysis, old age, HTN, higher obesity were statistically associated with LVH in male participants after adjusted for WC. In female participants, WC adjusted for age, HTN, BMI and LVH showed significant high OR to relaxation abnormality. Conclusion: BMI and WC as obesity related parameters have different association regarding LV structure and function according to gender. This difference may be related to the visceral obesity which is much more prevalent in women.